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Facing opposition to the government-run health insurance plan originally proposed in President Obama's health care legislation, health co-ops have been suggested as a means of providing affordable group health insurance to many Americans.

So what is a co-op? How does it work?

A health cooperative is a form of group health insurance, in which members get together to purchase their coverage, select doctors and hospitals, or even own part of the business itself. Co-ops are supposed to be non-profit and geared towards consumer needs, which would theoretically make them less susceptable to the kinds of pro-business, anti-consumer behaviors current health insurance companies are famous for.

But not everyone thinks that health cooperatives are the answer to the health care dilemma.

According to the Washington Post, "Cooperatives would face potentially greater difficulty getting off the ground and obtaining discounted rates from doctors and hospitals." And if not enough people enroll in a health co-op group health insurance plan, they wouldn't have the power to negotiate favorable rates with health-care providers.

Many opponents fear that the result would be federal funding, leading the argument back towards the dreaded government-run and funded health care issue.

But if government regulation could make health co-ops a viable solution, they could provide the competition needed to keep health insurance rates down.

For those consumers looking to compare health insurance plans, they would then have a new option that wouldn't be based on pre-existing conditions or individual rates.